Penn State women’s soccer (5-2-3, 3-1-1 Big Ten ) beat USC (1-7-3, 0-4-1 Big Ten ) 1-0 at Jeffrey Field on Sunday afternoon.

Penn State set the tone early and never took its foots off the break. It dominated USC with 15 shots compared to the Trojans’ zero and controlled the game the entire way despite the rain.

How It Happened

Penn State tried to attack early, but had no success due to four offside calls in the first 20 minutes.

Forward Aubrey Kulpa opened up the scoring in the 26th minute with a left-footed rocket into the top left corner. Defender Hannah Jordan assisted the shot.

The Nittany Lions had control of the ball for a majority of the first half, but the Trojans held strong in the midfield, led by Taylor Jenkins.

Penn State started the game aggressively, attacking the USC side of the field early and often. This aggressiveness resulted in 8 offside violations on the game.

Towards the end of the first half, freshman midfielder Emma Johnson outran the entire Trojan defense, but could not finish her open look.

USC’s defense kept it close in the first half. Penn State tried to run and attack the goal quickly, but the Trojans stayed disciplined on defense and held the Nittany Lions to only three shots on goal.

On the other side of the field, USC was stagnant on offense and struggled to create any real scoring opportunities. It failed to get a single shot up in the first half.

Kulpa had an opportunity for her second goal of the game in the 53th minute, but didn’t put enough on it as USC’s Josie Biehl secured the save.

The Nittany Lions kept USC with its back against its own goal for a bulk of the half and really tiring them out. The Trojans played 19 different players, but still couldn’t get anything going on offense.

In the 62nd minute, Biehl took a big hit from forward Ellie Kocher, resulting in Penn State’s third yellow card of the contest.

Halfway through the half, Kulpa crossed the ball into Kocher right in front of the goal. The shot was blocked way up into the new Jefrey Field Soccer Complex behind the goal.

USC defender Lily Biddulph did a fantastic job stopping a lot of one-on-on attacks on goal, but ultimately her efforts weren’t enough to combat the early Kulpa goal.

Takeaways

• Kulpa continued her scoring dominance, with her team-leading fifth goal and 13th point.
• It was Penn State’s first regular-season win against USC since 2005.
• Freshmen Ellie Kocher had three shots in 38 minutes.
• USC’s freshman goalkeeper, Josie Biehl, recorded five saves.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will take on the Purdue Boilermakers at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 3, at Jeffrey Field. The game will be streamed live on Big Ten Plus.